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His lifeless eyes suddenly brightened up a little, and he nodded.
With his slightly hoarse voice, he asked,
“Can you take my two friends too? They’re both girls, and they‘ re really good.”
I ended up taking in Duncan Chadbourne and his two friends Matilda Tychson and
Minerva Gottlieb.
Each of them had something special about them, and I put everything I had into helping them grow. I stayed by their side. every step of the way.
Duncan had this crazy talent for business. from the start. At just 12, he was already making money selling homemade holiday chocolates to his classmates. Then he
taught himself how to code, created a computer game, and sold it online.
He just had this instinct for spotting what
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the market wanted. By the time he was 15, he had landed a million–dollar investment and was working with college grads on game development. As his experience grew and the market expanded, his business. empire slowly spread into various fields- luxury sports car finance, fintech, internet services, AI–you name it.
His empire kept expanding, and eventually, he became the richest man in the world.
Matilda was a lot like him–calm and composed–but she was more into research, particularly in the field of groundbreaking technology development.
With Duncan’s investment, she founded Frontier Technological Research Institute, focusing on advancing research in areas. such as communication technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence chips, and other fields.
The institute had been specializing in providing core technical support for Duncan’s company. Together, the
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siblings‘ combined efforts had made their business empire technologically far ahead of their competitors.
Minerva, on the other hand, was lively and kind. She believed in the power of
education and worked her way up until she became the principal of a prestigious academy.
This academy not only catered to students from elite families but even had the
president‘ s son enrolled.
Over the years, I gave my all to raising my three adopted kids, and having them around made my life a lot less lonely.
But as my 50th birthday approached, I decided it was time to go back to the U.S. to pay a visit. The kids were acting all mysterious, dropping hints about some big surprise they had planned for me.
At the party, Leanne stood by the entrance, wearing a peacock–green dress that showed off her curves and fair skin. She linked
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arms with Harlan as they greeted the
guests.
“Leanna! You‘ re here!” she said with a big smile, rushing over to me and taking my arm. Before I could react, she grabbed my arm and led me to where the media was waiting, striking a perfect graceful pose.
“I know there‘ ve been some rumors going around, but they‘ re all nonsense. My sister and I have a great relationship. I would never interfere in her marriage or be some kind of homewrecker. These lies have really hurt me. I hope our friends in the media can help clear things up.”
Before she finished speaking, her eyes brimmed with tears, and a mixture of sorrow and strength appeared on her face.
“Miss Barrymore,” a reporter called out, “is it true that your sister interfered in your marriage before? Rumor has it you were forced to leave 20 years ago. What do you say to that?”
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Before I could answer, my father jumped
- in.
“Leanna, you‘ re finally back!” he said, coming over with my stepmother. In front of the cameras, they pretended to hug me and even had tears glistening in their eyes.
“Everyone, I haven’t seen my daughter Leanna in 20 years. I’m sorry, I got so emotional. At my age, all I want is for my kids to stay close. That‘ s enough for me,‘” he said, dabbing at his teary eyes with a handkerchief.
“Miss Barrymore, why haven‘ t you visited your father in 20 years? Is that any way for a daughter to act?” another reporter asked.
“And what about your son? He’s taken over the family business, and the company is about to go public while your
daughter’s studying for her Ph.D. in New Zealand. In all these 20 years, your children have missed a mother’s love. Why did you leave your son and daughter behind and
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leave the U.S.?”
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